My sister continued with her typical modus operandi...she gets worked up into a frenzy and then lies low for awhile. Then my father got word that my mother's Medicare was running out. Again, a product of the depression era, and having the general knowledge that the nursing home industry is notorious for draining  bank accounts, he considered his options. Again the angry call from my sister. She ranted on and on about "THAT man!" She actually said that if my father tried to take my mother back home, she would take him to court and sue him. Isn't that nice? The man who adopted her and worked like a dog to support her.

Did I mention that she's only my half sister? Yes, it's true. I don't know her real father's name, so I will refer to him as "Baby Daddy". I didn't even learn about this until I was about 21. It all came out when my sister was going to get married. I was really surprised, but this was a bit before the time when everybody got divorced. My mother was married to Baby Daddy and apparently he was cheating on her. She would not talk about it, but she did not seem happy. So, my mother and Baby Daddy's daughter were living alone and my sister was in daycare (which really didn't exist back then). My mother worked for a lawyer and he and his wife had a barbecue to introduce her to my future father, who was a client settling his parents estate. The rest is history. My father adopted Baby Daddy's daughter when she was four (I know this is confusing, but I just like calling her "Baby Daddy's daughter. I'll stop.) My sister was four when my father adopted her. Apparently, Baby Daddy never looked back. This is the weird part. My parents never intended for her to think that my father was not her real father. She was four after all; who would even consider that option? Somehow she did forget that my father was not her real father. Who knows? Maybe Baby Daddy wasn't exactly around a lot? Maybe I can get some 411 about Baby Daddy out of my dad now. They still meant to tell her when she got older. They just couldn't bring themselves to do it. Teenage years are rough enough after all....although my sister's weren't. When she did find out, she took it well. She actually took it better than I did!  With what little angst she had growing up, she managed to say stuff like, "I'm the black sheep of the family", "You're not my real dad", etc.

When she found out he really wasn't her dad, she loved him even more because even though she said such things, he never ever treated her like she wasn't his real daughter. Well that lasted kinda long, but not forever.